1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a haptic input device used in, for example, a car navigation system and the like, and more particularly, to a method of improving operability in a haptic input device capable of automatically dragging a cursor into a menu selection button displayed on display means to make it easier to select a desired button.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, a display device that facilitates selection of a desired button by automatically dragging the cursor into the displayed menu selection button is used as a display means in a car navigation system and the like.
As a first example of the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-314637 proposes an image display device in which a virtual drag area is established around the button, and the cursor is dragged into the center position of the button by manipulating an input device such as a joystick or a mouse in order to facilitate positioning of the cursor into the button displayed in the display device.
In the method of dragging the cursor in the image display device, as shown in FIG. 7, when a movement input is received using the cursor displacement input means 811, it is determined whether or not the present cursor display position stored in the cursor position storing means 815 is included in one of the drag areas set in the component table 814 in advance. If it is determined that the present cursor display position is included in the drag area, the drag vector computation means 813 computes a drag vector based on a drag center position of the drag area and the present cursor display position. In addition, the cursor display position computation means 812 determines the display position of the cursor based on information obtained from the cursor displacement input means 811, the drag vector computation means 813, and the cursor position storing means 815, and the position thereof is transmitted to the display device 816, so as to move the cursor.
As a second example of the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-332325 discloses a haptic input device as an input device for controlling movement of the cursor, including: a manipulation unit manipulated by a user; detection means that detects a manipulation state of the manipulation unit; drive means that exerts a drive force to the manipulation unit; display means that displays the cursor and a plurality of buttons; and control means that performs drive control of the drive means and display control of the display means.
The haptic input device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-332325 uses a manipulation unit having a pivot lever that can be pivoted and has two detection means for detecting a manipulation amount in two perpendicular directions of the pivot lever, such as a rotary type encoder or a variable resistor. In addition, the haptic input device has, for example, a liquid crystal display device as display means for displaying a desired image including a plurality of buttons and the cursor using two drive means such as an electric motor for exerting a drag force to the manipulation unit through a pivot lever. This technique allows a user to easily select a desired button, and provides a haptic input device capable of obtaining excellent operability and a sense of manipulation.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 8-314637 and 2005-332325, typically, a plurality of buttons are displayed on the display means in various array forms as shown in FIG. 8. However, the configuration of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-314637 fails to consider drag control of the cursor in a case where drag areas established for each of a plurality of buttons are overlappingly combined. Therefore, when the technique of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-314637 is applied to a practical apparatus, the cursor may be erroneously dragged into the button unintended by a user.
That is, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, when manipulation S92 is performed to move the cursor (the cursor C94 as a movement destination) to the button B94 intended by a user from the button B91 where the crisscross cursor C91 presently exists, the cursor is dragged into the button B92 because manipulation is made to drag the cursor into the drag area A92 (the dragged cursor is C92). For example, in a case where manipulation S93 is performed such that the cursor is moved to the area where the drag area A93 of the button B93 and the drag area A94 of the button B94 are overlappingly combined, the drag vector from the cursor to the center position of the button B93 is smaller than the drag vector from the cursor to the center position of the button B94. Therefore, the cursor movement is controlled such that the cursor is dragged into the button B93 (the dragged cursor is C93). However, since a user desires to move the cursor C91 to the button B94, if the cursor is dragged into the button B92 or B93, a user senses an uncomfortable feeling in the manipulation, and it is difficult to smoothly manipulate the manipulation unit.